State Sen. Robert Hedlund: Never at a loss for words

Thursday

Mar 27, 2008 at 12:01 AMMar 27, 2008 at 7:30 PM

State Sen. Robert Hedlund is basking in the afterglow after wrapping up his first year as a radio talk-show host. Hedlund has been broadcasting “Monday Night Talk” live Mondays from 6 to 8 p.m. on Marshfield-based 95.9 WATD. “We recently had an anniversary party,” Hedlund says. “It’s been fun.”

Liz Fuller

State Sen. Robert Hedlund is basking in the afterglow after wrapping up his first year as a radio talk-show host. Hedlund has been broadcasting “Monday Night Talk” live Mondays from 6 to 8 p.m. on Marshfield-based 95.9 WATD. “We recently had an anniversary party,” Hedlund says. “It’s been fun.”

The Weymouth Republican says he has always been interested in radio in varying degrees, especially the music side. During a campaign several years back, he met a man who had worked at WATD in the past and Hedlund talked about his interest in radio and about an idea he had for a music radio show. He met with Ed Perry, owner of WATD, to pitch his idea and after 45 minutes of discussion, Perry was not interested. No sooner had Perry dismissed the show idea, he decided to give Hedlund a chance anyway. Hedlund hosted a show called “The Rock Vault,” but under the pseudo name of Cliff Stone. “I didn’t want to make a fool of myself,” Hedlund explains. He hosted the show for about eight months, one night a week.

He has also done some fill-in work at WRKO for Howie Carr, Todd Feinberg, and Tom Finneran. “It’s been good practice,” Hedlund says, of filling-in at WRKO. “I learned a lot.” Hedlund says it’s a different situation at WRKO than WATD. “WRKO is 100 percent talk,” Hedlund says, while WATD is a full-service station. But, he says, he has learned so much by hosting his own show as well. “I learn from my listeners and constituents,” he says. “I get their input, which helps me to do a better job.”

Hedlund states that sometimes callers can get fiery with him because he openly says that, as a Republican, he doesn’t support the war. “I’m not big on banging the drum for the war,” he says.

While Hedlund’s Monday night show is primarily a political show, not every discussion is serious. “You know,” he says. “I’m obviously doing my job all week. Sometimes I want to depart from politics.”

Hedlund describes a visit he took last year to Washington, D.C. for a transportation seminar at the White House. As he and a colleague were doing some sightseeing prior to the seminar, they came across a homeless man outside the White House who was holding a sign that said he was running for president. Intrigued, Hedlund found himself speaking to the man, discussing his background and his political beliefs. “I found him to be extremely intelligent,” Hedlund recalls. “I told him about my radio show, which, ironically, the first show was to be on Presidents Day. I figured that since he was running for president, I should have him on the air.”

Hedlund had the man, Rick Hohensse, call in to his show and he’s been calling in to his WATD show every week since. “He’s only missed one week,” Hedlund says. He says that Hohensse goes to the Zoo Bar in D.C. where the bartender lets him use his cell phone to make his weekly call. Hedlund wants to be clear, however, that he does not exploit Hohensse in any way. “Like I said, he is an intelligent guy. And he is hilarious. Sometimes I send him on a mission,” Hedlund says, chuckling. “One time I sent him to Delahunt’s office [Congressman William Delahunt] and he barged in there telling them that Hedlund was on the phone!”

Hedlund has had his share of “passionate” callers who like to challenge him, but claims that he likes it when people start yelling. “It’s good that way,” he says. “They usually let me make my points, though, before they start yelling.” He also has some eccentric callers, such as one man outside of Hedlund’s district who calls in to the show, often drunk. “He’s not adversarial,” Hedlund says. He has another regular caller who sounds like Wolfman Jack. Another interesting character is “the guy from Boston.” “He’s a 360 pound guy who works as a Massport parking attendant,” Hedlund says. “He has this web site where he does these video rants. He’s had over a million hits. He’s been on Jay Leno, Neil Cavuto [Fox Business News] had him on twice, Chronicle has interviewed him, and Fox25 has hired him to do interviews. But we discovered him. We had him first.”

Hedlund’s all-time favorite show was when he had sports writer, Bob Ryan, from the Boston Globe in studio. Hedlund fondly recalls Ryan speaking to his English class his junior year at Hingham High School. Since then, Hedlund has been a fan. “We just went back and forth talking about sports. It was baseball season and I love baseball. I could talk about baseball all day. We had no set format and we just played off each other. We had trivia questions and prizes. It was great!” Hedlund then asked Ryan if he’d like to get a bite to eat after the show and their talking “tennis match” continued for two more hours.

Perry of WATD describes the success of “Monday Night Talk” as a “pleasant surprise.” He said WATD tried a political talk show about a decade ago but it did not catch on. Perry points out that Hedlund pays for his talk-show time. “He is a sitting politician and if we did not do that we would be inundated.”

Perry says Hedlund’s personality and his knowledge of the South Shore and Beacon Hill and his ability to attract knowledgeable guests contribute to the show’s success. “With Bob, what you see is what you get,” Perry says. “The show has really taken off. It’s been a fun thing for Bob because he likes doing it.”

Perry says other politicians have approached him about hosting programs. Scheduling can be an issue. He says each request is carefully evaluated.

Reflecting on the past year, Hedlund says that doing the radio show has been a real learning experience. “I’ll continue to do the radio show for as long as Ed [Perry] allows me to. “I really enjoy it,” he says.

To call in and participate in Monday Night Talk, call 781-837-4900 between 6 and 8 p.m. on Mondays.